Owner of private hospital earns praises, allows baby to be discharged from NICU without parents having to pay a single cent

As is the case in the Philippines, healthcare doesn’t come around cheap. In fact, most of us contend with public hospitals who subsidize and cut back our bills into half, making it much affordable.

A perpetual downside to this, though, is the seemingly lack of up-to-date machines, diagnostic tools, and medical apparatus which are very necessary for diagnosis and treatment.

So we are left with no choice but to seek the services of private hospitals, who are better advanced and far more competent in terms of their supplies and equipment.

A pressing concern we also face these days are private hospitals turning down patients who are unable to give a down-payment upon admission, despite the patient presenting serious, life-threatening cases.

We hear many reports of patients dying after being refused medical attention, or unable to have laboratory tests. Other stories involve patients dying while already admitted, due to inability to procure medicine; others, unable to discharge out of the facility due to insufficient funds to pay the bills.

These are indeed sickening and disheartening cases of morbidity and mortality in the country, brought about by the current healthcare system injustices and inequality.

This story that KAMI came across on Definitely Filipino will make us believe otherwise, and give us hope that maybe, money isn’t everything when it comes to health care.

This is the story of how the owner of a private hospital allowed a family to be discharged and leave its premises, even if they were unable to pay even a single cent.

Mitzi Gonzales Valentino shared how she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl after 14 hours of labor. The baby suffered from cord coil, add to that she was able to ingest poop due to the prolonged labor process. Her daughter was diagnosed with 'Meconium Aspiration Pneumonia - Sepsis'.

Just hours after she was born, the baby had to be rushed to a different hospital which was more fully equipped than where they were presently confined, as the newborn needed to be under a neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU.

Upon doctors’ recommendations, Baby Summer was to be admitted for a good 3-4 weeks for treatment and close monitoring, and hospital bills could amount to almost a million pesos.

Unsure of what to do and where they would be taking money from to shoulder the expenses, Mitzi and her husband took to Facebook to ask for any form of help.

Some suggested they simply transfer to a public hospital with a NICU. But this proved easier said than done, because all the hospitals they contacted didn’t have available space for Summer. Also, they worried about how they could discharge from the private hospital they were in when they didn’t have money to pay the bills.

Thankfully, a doctor reached out to them and offered to secure a spot for Summer at the NICU of a public hospital where she was connected. All they had to worry about now was to rent a ventilator as such was not available at their facility.

Another netizen was able to connect the couple to the owner of the hospital, who promised to sign their release papers and approve their discharge, without them having to pay a single peso. This, as long as they vowed to slowly foot the bill once Summer becomes better.

A big salute to this private hospital owner! Because of him, Baby Summer was able to transfer to a public hospital that can cater to her needs, at much lesser cost.

KAMI has strong faith in humanity. The goodness in people will always shine through and help comes in times you least expect. So never lose hope, and always keep the faith. Because you are never alone in all your struggles.

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